Wild game meat

Draft Decree on the collection, transport, conditioning, placement on the market and consumption of wild game

The draft decree elaborates some aspects of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 concerning wild game meat and adjusts certain requirements that are stipulated in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and which apply to the construction, design and equipment of game handling establishments with a limited production capacity.

More specifically, the aim of the draft decree is to:

a) Lay down the health and hygiene requirements for collecting, conditioning and transporting wild game killed in Catalonia and intended for human consumption.

b) Lay down the requirements to be met by logistic wild-game collection hubs.

c) Lay down the requirements to be met by persons trained in health and hygiene in the field of hunting.

d) Lay down the measures for adjusting the requirements concerning the construction, design and equipment of wild game handling establishments with a limited production capacity.

This standard involves adjusting certain requirements set out in Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 for game handling establishments with a limited production capacity. These establishments are ones that neither process more than 1 400 animals/year nor exceed a maximum of 50 animals/week, in the case of large game, and ones that neither process more than 2 000 animals/year nor exceed a maximum of 100 animals/week, in the case of small game.

The requirements being adjusted in this draft decree refer only to structural and facility elements. Game handling establishments with a limited production capacity must meet the remainder of the requirements laid down in the EU legislation that makes up the Hygiene Package.

In this regard, said establishments need not meet the following requirements set out in Annex VII to the draft decree:

1. Have a sufficient number of rooms for the operations to be carried out, provided that the separation in time of the operations is ensured, that said operations can be carried out in a hygienic manner and, if appropriate, that there the rooms are properly cleaned and disinfected between operations.

2. All access routes are paved, if the access route for persons is paved and ensures that no outdoor contamination can enter.

3. Have slaughter lines (where operated) that constantly progress, provided that the sequence of operations is carried out in such a way as to avoid contamination, even if the operations are carried out in a stationary manner at the same point.

4. Have an adequately equipped lockable facility for the exclusive use of the veterinary service, if said facility is in the vicinity.

5. Have automated temperature data loggers, if the economic operator has installed a periodic checking system.

6. Have exclusive lockable facilities for meat that has been detained or declared unfit for human consumption, provided that the production systems or facilities prevent the meat from being sent to the wrong destination.

7. The toilets shall be inside the establishment itself, provided that a hygiene protocol is designed and implemented in order to avoid contamination that may occur as a result of such an arrangement.

8. Have adequate changing facilities, provided that there is a suitable area that can be used as such.

9. Have a cold room for hunted game, provided that said game is skinned immediately upon arrival at the establishment.

10. Have air-conditioning set to 12 ºC in the room, provided that the resulting cuts are stored immediately at 7 ºC for large wild game, 4 ºC for small wild game, and 3 ºC for offal.

11. Have a separate room for emptying intestines and a zone for collecting faeces and the digestive tract content, if the stomachs and intestines are discarded, when full, as by-products.

12. Have a separate room, with adequate facilities, for cleaning, washing and disinfecting the means of transport for the animals, if there is somewhere in the vicinity to perform said washing and disinfection.